She watched him take off before glancing at Connor, who was grinning again.
“I know you think this helps, but he’s four and he doesn’t understand any of this,” she murmured.
“And I get that, but it makes me feel good knowing our two toughest critics are on our side.”
Two toughest…?
The snort was out before she could stop it, causing him to look at her curiously.
They just stared at each other for what felt like forever before she caved and explained herself.
“I just don’t think Annabeth and Jonah were going to be too hard to win over,” she said mildly. “We all get along and already act like a family most of the time. They’re both young and would adapt to any situation, especially since we both genuinely like each other’s child.” She shrugged. “Your statement just felt a little…dramatic.”
“Oh. Okay.”
She hated lying to him, but the last thing she wanted to do after having such a great day and seeing the kids so excited was to bring up his parents and her insecurities.
Those were their toughest critics.
She was just incredibly thankful that they weren’t here and she didn’t have to deal with them on top of everything else right now. Between the resort getting ready for its soft opening and all that goes with it and this wonderful turn in her relationship with Connor, she didn’t need anything else on her plate.
With any luck, the Winslowes were off traveling the world and wouldn’t come back for a very, very long time.
Chapter Nine
The next two weeks were filled with the soft opening of the resort and figuring out all the things that needed immediate attention.
And there were a lot.
Granted, they only had a hundred guests, and most were families who had been coming to the resort for years, but they were all a bit vocal on what was missing or what didn’t quite meet their standards.
That last one made Connor laugh because everything was so much better than when Walker’s grandparents ran the place, but not everyone agreed. They had complaints about the TVs in the cabins, that the food was different, and how there were too many activities to choose from.
At the end of each day—since they could no longer have their family-style dinners with just their core group at their makeshift table in the lobby or even gather around the firepit for s’mores—they opted to go up to the owner’s suite. The space was like an apartment on the top floor of the lodge with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large living space, a kitchen, and a dining room. Axel and Maisie were planning on moving into it since Axel was now officially the overall resort manager, but they hadn’t made the move yet. So for now, it worked as a space for them to meet that had enough space for everyone.
And naturally, Connor cooked for them.
“Are we really going to take TVs out of the rooms?” Slater asked around a mouthful of barbecued pulled pork. “That just seems crazy. Why can’t they just…you know…not watch it?”
“I guess we could ask when they make their reservation if they want a TV in the room,” Axel said, but then immediately shook his head. “No. Then you have wires hanging and renovations to the room. We can call and ask Milo if there’s a way to shut that stuff off so it can’t be used if the guest doesn’t want it, but that seems excessive.”
“Exactly,” Walker agreed. “This feedback is great, but it doesn’t mean we have to change everything. At least not yet. We knew the place was going to be different and the long-standing guests might not like the changes, but we’re not trying to cater only to them. We’re trying to bring in new guests.”
Connor took his seat next to Lexi. “And what did they mean about the food being different? Was that in a good or bad way?”
“Neither,” Walker told him. “Just different. The menu had been the same for something like…forty years. We all agreed that the menu was spot on, so I’m not worried about it.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re not the chef,” he murmured.
“No, but this whole thing was my idea, so I’ve got a lot invested too, Connor. And in case anyone forgot, I wanted to go in a completely different direction with the place, so all this feedback is confusing the hell out of me.”
“Why?” Harlow asked. “No one’s commented that they wish it were more deluxe and snootier.”
Rolling his eyes, Walker sighed loudly. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. I just meant that we all thought keeping things the same would be the way to go, but it seems like people want to complain no matter what.”
“I wonder if your grandparents ever got complaints,” Slater commented. “You know, especially in those last few years they were open.”
“Oh, I’m sure they got plenty. So many things on the property were either closed or in terrible shape.”
